MOTHERBOAR + RAZORS IN THE NIGHT + ACARO + LIVVER | Great Scott | January 22 | Benny Grotto usually has his hands full, but probably never as much as earlier this month at the Boston Music Awards, when the head engineer at Allston's Mad Oak Studios and drummer for Motherboar walked out of the Liberty Hotel with not just one, but two BMAs (Producer of the Year and Metal/Hardcore Act of the Year). Now Motherboar get to show off their metal with the release of The Beast Becomes the Servant, the inaugural release off Boston-based Born of Fire Records. The head-shredding album is available in all formats, including gatefold 12-inch, red-and-black-splatter vinyl. Killer.

WAX FACTOR The David Wax Museum have some surprises in store for their February 3 party at Oberon.

HANDS AND KNEES + DOOMSTAR! + THE NEEDY VISIONS | Great Scott | January 27 | Hands and Knees put soul into the holidays with "James Brown Died on Christmas Day," and now the soulful indie-pop band gets Wholesome. Their third full-length after one-album stands with Banazan and Midriff Records, the self-released Wholesome is earmarked to be one of 2k11's finest releases, boasting a sound that recalls a more folkish, stripped down, chamber-pop-leaning Hooray for Earth. Fellow band-to-watch Doomstar! and scene psych veterans the Needy Visions stack the bill in sharp-crafted noise's favor.

RIBS + THE CINNAMON FUZZ | T.T. The Bear's | January 28 | Those who appreciated the harder edge RIBS brought to Boston's indie tableau with British Brains are in for more treats: the double A-side Locrian Singles continues the young quartet's thunderous experimentation with guitar sonics, crafting a pulsating sound that borrows as much from Muse as it does Deftones. The Cinnamon Fuzz bring balance to the bill, countering RIBS' stomp with their glossy, rock-pop disco dust. Boston's promising duo is joined by a New York pair: Bridges & Powerlines and Fan-Tan.

MEAN CREEK + TAXPAYER + GIRLFRIENDS + DIRTY DISHES | Brighton Music Hall | January 29 | If the Brighton Music Hall truly wants to be a player not only on the national circuit but also on the local scene, it all starts right here. In a show that could put the former Harpers Ferry space back on the map, four of Boston's aces throw down in the local gig of the winter. Former Phoenix cover darlings and rock-and-roll beasts Mean Creek lead the charge with the release of their Hemophiliac EP, but any of the others on the bill — the tried-and-tested indie pulse of Taxpayer, the garage ruckus of Girlfriends, or the rock slickness of Dirty Dishes — could equally headline this joint by Independence Day.

NINE BOSTON ROCK SHOWS COMING THIS SPRING | March 01, 2013 Go nine songs deep into Gozu's new The Fury of a Patient Man — from the stoner chug of opener "Bald Bull" to the buzzing boogie of "Salty Thumb" to the upright guitar crunch of "Disco Related Injury" — and there's barely any room to breathe.